Penn Overlook IPA | Pennsylvania Brewing Company

0 characters.
We love reviews! Turn your rating into one with ≥ 150 characters. Awesome. Thanks for the review!

In English, explain why you're giving this rating. Your review must discuss the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) and your overall impression in order to indicate that you have legitimately tried the beer. Nonconstructive reviews may be removed without notice and action may be taken on your account.

Reviews by SPThirtyThree:

Poured cold, around 40°F, because I knew from the previous two bottles this would be overcarbonated. Still, ridiculously overcarbonated, and even being as delicate as possible, I only got just over half the bottle into the goblet before I had to stop and wait for the head to settle.

Huge clumps of bubbly, eggshell head collapse before my repour leaving a thicker, denser cap of foam atop sudsier bubbles. It's bottle conditioned, and this bottle had a lot of sediment in it. Before the second pour I could see about halfway through the straw- and nectarine-colored liquid, but after topping up my glass, the liquid is clouded and murky. I still haven't managed to get all 12 oz. out of the bottle, but as I wait for the head to fall, it collapses with a central spire of foam surrounded by jagged arches that lead up to a ring that condensed around the rim of the glass.

Even cold, the smell hints at harsh off-flavors, but it's a pungent, west-coast hop atop sweet, vegetal malt. I'm guessing the hop is Chinook, because it smells a little like cat piss.

As it warms, the nose presents subtle, fruity notes of grapefruit, and some lemon zest, but it's also a little skunky. This beer came through the mail, though, so it may have been lightstruck by the sender. The nose is a little hot and solvent-y.

The flavor is a light, sweet malt, a faint burn of alcohol, and a heavy dose of astringent hops. It's juicy, but the hops are harsh.

The mouthfeel is very full, and carbonic. The overcarbonation causes aggressive foaming and adds to the bite from hop astringency. There's a chalky, dry-hop feel that also contributes to the sharpness and stickiness, and the hop lingers through the finish with a mild sting.

It's hard to have a good overall impression from an overcarbonated, sediment-laden beer. I like a good, sharp IPA, but the hop variety chosen for this beer is a bit abrasive. It's a decent beer overall, but given the abundance of better IPAs from local breweries, I probably would never buy or recommend Overlook IPA.

Pours a light golden orange color, some off white soapy head and lacing. Smells like fresh hops, herbal, cat pee, grassy. In the taste, earthy hops all day, herbal, slightly spicy hop, with some citrus rind flavor as well. Good bite, solid bitterness. There's a light malty body to support the hops. Carbonation is very low, almost nothing. Could be considered almost a hop tea, even for a cask ale its somewhat thin. Overall, this was a pretty good beer in the bottle, and on-tap I think it would be even better.

Pours a blonde golden color that is slightly opaque and has some cloudiness to it. I prefer a little cloudiness as opposed to an overly filtered beer. The head is effervescent and short lived. White with almost no lacing down the glass.

The nose is weak with some sweet malt, pine and bread notes.

The beer is almost all hops in the flavor. Taste like it was made more to show how much hops someone could fit in a beer without making it a good beer.

I am a hop head and I am disappointed. This is like a lot of other typical American IPA’s in that it is hopped for the sake of hopping as opposed for the sake of balancing complex flavors. I can get a sense of what is likely a very good beer recipe that has been drowned out by excessive hopping. The balance is completely blown and the finish is extremely bitter and lingering.

The hops don’t match the malt with has some fruitiness if you really focus and think about it. But the hops just drown out every other flavor.

Overall this is not a good beer and it is seriously lacking in craftsmanship. I will pass on this in the future and try to pass the rest on to other people.

On cask. Pours a light golden orange color, some off white soapy head and lacing. Smells like fresh hops, herbal, cat pee, grassy. In the taste, earthy hops all day, herbal, slightly spicy hop, with some citrus rind flavor as well. Good bite, solid bitterness. There's a light malty body to support the hops. Carbonation is very low, almost nothing. Could be considered almost a hop tea, even for a cask ale its somewhat thin. Overall, this was a pretty good beer in this format, and on-tap I think it would be even better.